Macroeconomics I (20832)
Degree/study: degree in Economics
Year: 2nd
Term: 2nd
Number of ECTS credits: 6 credits
Hours of studi dedication: 150 hours
Teaching language or languages: Spanish, English
Teaching Staff: Luigi Pascali, Alberto Martín
1. Presentation of the subject
The course Introduction to Macroeconomics is fundamental in the curricula of IBE, ECO and ADE students. The course aims at introducing you to the main economic questions that economies as a whole face, and to acquire knowledge and competences that will be the fundamentals for your learning of Economic Theory in more advance and specialized courses. This course, together with Introduction to Microeconomics - (the course you have taken during the first quarter), should be viewed as the first step of the training in Economic Theory for IBE, ECO and ADE students.
2. Competences to be attained
1. Identify macroeconomic problems.
2. Ability to understand and apply simple economic models.
3. Ability to relate the analysis of macroeconomic problems with the goals and instruments of economic policy.
4. Knowledge of the main macroeconomic variables and of the data sources where those variables can be found.
3. Contents
In the same way as Introduction to Microeconomics helped you understand how households and firms take decisions and interact in different markets, Introduction to Macroeconomics will help you understand how those interactions result in important economic aggregates, how those economic aggregates determine and influence each other, and how they simultaneously affect many households, firms and markets of a country or a set of countries. We will therefore study economic aggregates such as a country's income per capita and economic growth, unemployment, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates and the balance of payments. Furthermore we are going to analyze how economic policy, both monetary and fiscal, affects these economic aggregates.
As you can see, macroeconomics concerns real world problems and it is crucial that you are informed about what is going on in the world around you by regularly reading newspapers and magazines like the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Expansión, Cinco Días, or the economic sections of The New York Times, La Vanguardia, el Pais as well as their weekend special sections in economics.
4. Assessment
Grade from final exam
The final grade will depend on a final exam (80%) and on a set of weekly assignments (20%), which MUST be handed in during the TA sessions.
Grade from September evaluation
The final grade will depend on a final exam (90%) and on the results from the weekly assignments (10%).
Important advice: It is ESSENTIAL to complete the homework assignments, as a substantial part of the exam will be based on them.
5. Bibliography and teaching resources
In parenthesis and bold the abbreviation that we will use in the course outline to specify the references that correspond to each Topic.
5.1. Basic bibliography
- Blanchard, O., Amighini, A. and Giavazzi, F., Macroeconomics. A European Perspective, Pearson Education Limited, 2010.(Ben)
5.2. Complementary bibliography
• Mankiw, N. G., Macroeconomics, 6th edition, Worth Publishers, 2007. (Men)
6. Methodology
COURSE ORGANIZATION
The course duration is 10 weeks. All students of a section meet weekly with the professor for two lectures of an hour and a half. Furthermore, for 7 weeks, starting on the third week of the course, there will be weekly seminar sessions with smaller groups of students (sub-sections). Seminar sessions will be used to discuss in more depth the topics studied, to learn to relate the acquired knowledge to everyday economic issues and to solve the problem sets that students have previously handed in. Problem sets will be handed in weekly and solved in class with the active participation of students.
Solutions will be available in Campus Global after they have been solved and discussed in the seminar.
7. Planning of activities
ACTIVITIES PLANNING
Part I: Introduction
1. Basic macroeconomic data
• Chapter 1, Ben (10 January)
• Chapter 2, Ben (11 January)
Part II: The short run
2. Goods and financial markets
• The goods market: Chapter 3, Ben (17 and 18 January)
• Financial markets: Chapter 4, Ben (18 and 24 January)
3. IS-LM model
• Closed economy: Chapter 5, Ben (25 and 31 January)
• Open economy: Chapter 6, Ben (1 and 7 February)
4. The labour market
• Chapter 7, Ben (8 and 14 February)
Part III: The medium run
5. The aggregate supply - aggregate demand model
• Chapter 8, Ben (15 and 21 February)
6. The natural rate of unemployment and the Philips curve
• Chapter 9, Ben (22 and 28 February)
7. Inflation, activity and nominal money growth
• Chapter 10, Ben (1 March)
Part IV: The long run
8. The facts of growth
• Chapter 11, Ben (8 March)
9. Saving, capital accumulation and output
• Chapter 12, Ben (14 March)
10. Technological progress and growth
• Chapter 13, Ben (15 March)